Asus VG23AH is a New 23-inch Passive 3D Display with IPS Panel

It seems that Asus is interested in trying out the passive 3D (FPR 3D) monitor market as the company already has a two active 3D monitors on the market. Their first FPR 3D model to hit the market is the 23-inch Asus VG23AH that uses an IPS LCD panel with LED backlight, promising high viewing angled and better color reproduction in 2D as well as 3D mode. The monitor features built-in 2D to 3D autoconversion mode and supports 3D over HDMI 1.4 only, even though the display has a VGA and a DVI port that apparently don’t work with 3D (unless of course you are using Row Interleaved stereo 3D output to the display that should work regardless of the interface). You get the monitor bundled with no HDMI cable however, so make sure you have a spare one, so that you can immediately start using it in 3D mode

The monitor supports HDMI 1.4 frame packing for automatic stereo 3D input as well as Side by Side and Over/Under available for manual selection and of course the built-in 2D to 3D conversion that you can activate. One thing that Asus fails to mention however is if they bundle the monitor with some kind of software that will allow you to play games in stereo 3D mode or you have to arrange that yourself. No mention in the press information, the product page, even the manual does not clearly say anything, although the manual mentions a few times that the monitor is 3D Vision ready (no mention about it being “Optimized for GeForce” certified product). The good news is that since the monitor is passive 3D you should be able to directly output in Row Interleaved stereo 3D mode on it and putting the 3D glasses you should be able to see the stereo 3D image. Meaning that it should work just fine with the iZ3D driver or the TriDef 3D software, although you might need to get separately a license for these middle-ware solutions (if you don’t already have one). The fact that the monitor supports HDMI 1.4 might make it compatible with Nvidia’s 3DTV Play, although probably not officially since this is clearly a 3D monitor and not a 3D HDTV. And the last option would be the support for the Nvidia “Optimized for GeForce”, although not very likely.

3 responses so far ↓

So many 23 inch passives but only one 27 inch passive that I know about. I like my Acer 27 inch passive but since January only Newegg sells it and it has stayed at 3 reviews since the first 2 weeks of it being put on the market. No fellow users with any forum message anywhere either. I feel lonely :_( I think a lot of people think 27 inch is too big, but I would think the 3d market would be people on the other side of the spectrum and prefer a more immersive experience.

How bad is the ghosting on your monitor? I’m coming from a dlp TV with PERFECT 3D, so my standards are kinda high. I need to get a new monitor within the next month or two, but I don’t want to be super disappointed.

It’s hard to compare when I’m not experienced with active. I mostly just play WOW and only notice ghosting when a light item like a silver sword goes up against a dark background. Usually I never notice it, but sometimes I’m in an dungeon with dark colors and notice it more frequently. I did a ghosting test on Nvidia’s 3dvision forum that you can search my name and compare it with your current monitor.